Competitions · Business & economics
Economics and business competitions — from IEO to the investment circuit.
Twenty-one economics and business competitions from Hanlin's Chinese hub: the IEO and NEC olympiad track, the FBLA, BPA and DECA business circuit, investment challenges from Wharton, SIC and LIBF, and entrepreneurship contests from Diamond Challenge to Blue Ocean.
In the classroom
The tutors and lessons behind the results.
Lesson stills and subject leads from Hanlin's Chinese hub.
Economics & statistics — Jiang
Schulich business analytics; long experience across the whole economics curriculum.
Business — Bai
Judge at the Diamond Challenge global final and NEC China final; coached national #1s in IEO and NEC.
Economics — Zhang
Scenario-based teaching from nine years in finance; College Board-accredited.
Economics — Wang
Official NEC and IEO coach; teams to the global rounds of both.
Board 01
Business & economics23
Every business & economics competition on Hanlin's Chinese hub — cards open the English detail page where it is live.
IEO (International Economics Olympiad)
The International Economics Olympiad — the first economics contest among the science olympiads.
EAC (Economics Asia Conference)
The Economics Asia Convention.
NEC (National Economics Challenge)
The National Economics Challenge — the most influential US high-school economics contest, from the CEE.
Diamond Challenge
The Diamond Challenge — entrepreneurship for high-school students, from the University of Delaware.
FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)
Future Business Leaders of America — 250,000 students and 3,000 schools a year.
Wharton Global High School Investment Competition
The Wharton Global High School Investment Competition.
SIC (Student Investment Challenge)
The Student Investment Challenge — CEE-certified, with ACME academic support.
BPA (Business Professionals of America)
Business Professionals of America — management, finance and IT.
EEO (European Economics Olympiad)
The European Economics Olympiad.
MEC
Columbia's Model Entrepreneur competition for high-school students worldwide.
Conrad Challenge
The Conrad Challenge — STEM meets business, backed by NASA.
DECA ICDC
DECA's International Career Development Conference — the 'business olympics'.
Wharton Ideas for Action (I4A)
Wharton and the World Bank's Ideas for Action — youth ideas for sustainable finance.
SAGE (Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship)
Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship — real ventures, global outlook.
LIBF Student Investor Challenge
The LIBF Student Investor Challenge — the 'CFA for high-schoolers'.
NPFC (National Personal Finance Challenge)
The National Personal Finance Challenge, from the CEE.
YIS Stock Investment Challenge
The YIS stock investment challenge — theory and live practice.
Blue Ocean Entrepreneurship Competition
The world's largest high-school entrepreneurship competition.
Pirates Pitch
Pirates Pitch — entrepreneurship basics, cash prizes and Seton Hall scholarships.
LSE Economics Challenge
The LSESU Economics Challenge — high-school and university-level economics from LSE.
IDEA
One of the oldest and most respected design awards there is - and a professional one.
Red Dot
One of the three great design awards, and a professional one.
USAEBO
Anyone can enter it from anywhere, and anyone can win a medal.
Results
Where this track leads.
Selected results from the honours boards — the full rolls sit on the honours pages.
#5 — IEO world team total, 2022
all five Team China members were Hanlin students — 1 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze.
#1 — CNEC global US division, 2025
AS-group QT+CT totals at global #1 and #2; a global sweep in 2023.
#2 — FBLA global, Business Financial Plan
the first Chinese top-three in the event; a national #1 in Marketing in 2023–24.
FAQ
This track, briefly answered.
What families ask when choosing where to start.
Which economics competition should a student start with?
NEC for a first structured economics contest, then IEO for the olympiad route; FBLA or BPA for business breadth; SIC or the Wharton competition for investment.
Are these team or individual events?
Both — NEC, FBLA, BPA and the investment challenges are team circuits with individual awards; IEO has individual and team components.
How does Hanlin coach these?
Small-group team coaching with the tutors who judge and coach these very finals — a Diamond Challenge global-final judge and official NEC/IEO coaches are on the faculty.
Where are the results?
On the honours pages: IEO Team China 2022 world #5, CNEC global sweeps, FBLA global #2 and BPA global top-3 team finishes.
Do these help university applications?
They are among the strongest business and economics credentials for US and UK applications — the honours boards show admits to Wharton, LSE and the Ivy League from these cohorts.
Competition enquiries
Map the competition route.
Tell us the subject, grade and current level, and an advisor will sequence the contests from first entry to the invitational tiers.